Chapter 119: Third Reinforcement, Officially Recognized as the Protagonist
Passing through one heavy door after another, the Truth Society president reached deep into Area C on Level B3 of the main base.
“How is she?”
He turned and asked Dr. Aid, who had been waiting for him.
Dr. Aid walked to the console, tapped a few keys, and pulled up大量 of data. “Compared to four months ago, all her physical metrics have improved by at least 11%, up to 37%. The only issue is that because her psionic energy has been continuously drained, her mental state has become somewhat unstable.”
The Truth Society president nodded, his eyes showing both gravity and excitement.
Yulia was simply a monster.
Even confined within a psionic inhibitor, with her psionic energy constantly restricted to below one percent, she was still growing at a rate beyond normal people’s comprehension.
The Truth Society president dared not imagine how far Yulia would have grown over these years if she had not been restricted.
Perhaps she would become the ruler of this world.
Perhaps she would fly out of this planet, to pursue the limits of psionic power.
Fortunately, Carlisle betrayed the Watchers' camp before Yulia had fully matured, interrupting her growth trajectory and altering the entire path of the world.
“Let me inherit the road you paved and become the ruler of the world. After all, you’re not interested in power—you just want to be a doctor.”
The Truth Society president removed the longing from his eyes and turned back to Dr. Aid.
“How is the research progressing?”
Dr. Aid replied, “The temporary enhancement serum made from Yulia’s extracted psionic energy has successfully passed clinical trials. But the potential activation serum is not going smoothly. Because we can’t figure out why Yulia has such exaggerated psionic talent, we can only resort to the most brute-force method and test slowly. Unfortunately, so far no one has survived after taking the serum.”
The Truth Society president frowned.
Seeing this, Dr. Aid hurriedly explained, “President, rest assured. Research is indeed behind schedule, but now that I’ve found a direction, the existence of a non-fatal test subject makes trial-and-error much easier. I believe we’ll have results soon.”
“That’s good.”
The Truth Society president didn’t ask more.
Dr. Aid breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
He hadn’t lied. But he hadn’t said one thing: in Yulia’s current condition, the experiment might drive her insane before success. If Yulia went mad, the experiment’s consequences would be completely unpredictable. He could only take it one step at a time.
After sending the Truth Society president away, Dr. Aid directed his assistant to bring all the newly recruited test subjects over.
Time was pressing. He had to start a new round of experiments quickly.
A dozen minutes later, Tai’er Zhenren, his eyes covered with multiple layers of black cloth, was pushed into the lab among others.
“As long as you cooperate with me honestly in this experiment, you will be handsomely rewarded.”
While Dr. Aid spoke, Tai’er Zhenren looked around curiously.
The other players seemed in high spirits—they could gain experience just by lying there, receive rare items upon completion, and even a chance to transform into special races. Who wouldn’t be thrilled by a mission like this?
Tai’er Zhenren was also excited—but his excitement stemmed from a different source. After all, he was a spy.
Since Graham was slaughtered by Bai Fu, he had resolutely sided with Bai Fu and become a spy for the Silent Court. In the past few months, he had collected a fair amount of intelligence on the Truth Society—but that intelligence had been useless.
At last, having landed a special opportunity, he intended to shine.
If not now, then when? When his moment came, he would stun everyone.
This time, he would show Bai Fu just how wise it was to accept him back then.
Before accepting the mission, Tai’er Zhenren had already inquired: Dr. Aid held a very high position in the Truth Society—so high that even Commander Bernardo of the Combat Division wouldn’t dare provoke him casually. He didn’t know exactly where he was now, but since Dr. Aid was there, it must be a location of great importance to the Truth Society.
[First lie low for a while, see if I can find out the location of the Truth Society’s main base. If I can’t, I’ll send Bai Fu the coordinates of this place.]
…
While the major powers were tense after the Truth Society’s retaliatory attack on Black Mountain City, the former capital of the Old Republic, the real mastermind behind the scenes, Bai Fu, had already returned to Sanctuary No. 11.
Considering a version update would occur in two days, she didn’t go running off again. Instead, she planned to spend the time farming more experience and organizing players to begin a new round of construction in the Geli Desert.
Main quest branch 3, Order Defenders, and branch 4, Ideal State, both linked to building up the Geli Desert. The better the desert was developed, the greater the rewards when the quests settled.
Needing massive experience to enhance her strength, Bai Fu naturally would not ignore these tasks.
For others, maintaining order in the Geli Desert and boosting its prosperity was no easy feat. Materials were easy enough—just buy them. The problem was finding a large workforce quickly. In this world, pollution was everywhere. Which contractor would risk sending builders to remote areas?
But for Bai Fu, it was too easy.
She had recruited so many players not to let them freeload.
Of course, compared to NPCs that overwork players to the bone, she was kind-hearted. She wouldn’t let players die of exhaustion only to drink foot-washing water.
“Primordials, begin excavation!”
Bai Fu, the contractor of the Geli Desert construction project, appeared.
She had already decided to drastically reduce commission quests and call on all players to head to the construction sites.
[Work hard for thirty days, build a new home!]
[Geli Desert is our home—prosperity depends on everyone!]
Upon arriving at Sanctuary No. 11, Bai Fu first met with Gao Yuan.
Before heading out to stir trouble in Black Mountain City, she had instructed Gao Yuan and Old Nison to pull in as many players as possible from outside. Gao Yuan and Old Nison took her orders seriously. In her absence, they managed to bring in nearly a thousand players. Including those who came on their own, the Silent Court’s player count had now surpassed four thousand and was rapidly heading toward five thousand.
At this stage she had planned five strongholds in the Geli Desert, each with a respawn point. Assigning roughly a thousand players to each stronghold was more than sufficient.
“The plan to bring in Undead can’t stop. Soon the outside world will descend into chaos. At that point, the more Undead we control, the safer we’ll be.” Bai Fu reminded Gao Yuan again.
Gao Yuan nodded vigorously.
He was now riding high.
He had initially cooperated with Bai Fu simply because he trusted her power. Who would have thought that in just a few months, Bai Fu would become a legendary figure on the Origin Star and the Silent Court would become a presence that the Five Great Powers could not underestimate?
He had only meant to solidify his position as clan leader by collaborating with Bai Fu, and maybe build a Dark Web–style commission platform to bolster his family’s power—but judging by the current trajectory, one day he might even stand on equal footing with the head of the Makarov family, who was behind the Dark Web.
This was undoubtedly the most profitable investment in history.
I will arrange everything—rest easy.
After leaving Gao Yuan in Sanctuary No. 11’s office, Bai Fu went to see Old Nison and Little Yulia.
Though she was nominally the contractor, she couldn’t actually direct players on-site. She still needed to farm experience herself, occasionally cheering players on, leaving daily management to Old Nison and the rest.
Old Nissen was in high spirits.
To him, everything that had happened in the past few months felt like a dream. He cherished everything he had gained and was thrilled to still have a chance to participate in this great reconstruction.
“Thank you.”
“No need to thank me. Since I chose to settle in the Goli Desert, I would do my best to build this place even without your connection.”
“I know. I’m not just thanking you for this… also for Carlisle...”
At this point, Old Nissen couldn’t help but sigh.
Bai Fu had absolutely no obligation to help him kill that traitor Carlisle. Even after killing him, there was no need to bring his corpse back to Shelter Number 11, but she still did it.
This was not some mere performance. On the contrary, it showed that Bai Fu truly treated his and Yulia’s matters as her own.
After being betrayed and hitting rock bottom, to meet someone like this—it was the greatest fortune of his life.
Old Nissen silently made up his mind to oversee this project well, ensuring not a single Undying One would have any complaints about Bai Fu. Even if someone did complain, he would take the blame himself.
That was how the Garden of Silence operated. Bai Fu only needed to play the role of the True Monarch Bai Fu Who Saves the Suffering and the Needy; the rest could be handled by others.
As she walked home, smiling at the players on the roadside continuously snapping photos of her, Bai Fu beamed.
“Our Garden of Silence is really thriving!”
She pushed open the door and found Anya doing the accounts.
“Boss!”
Anya jumped up from the sofa.
Bai Fu said, “There are already too many members in the Garden of Silence now. You can’t manage the store all by yourself. Just stop managing it. From now on, follow Old Nissen and learn how to run the Garden of Silence. If I ever leave the Origin Star, you might be the one who’ll have to handle things here.”
Hearing this, the smile on Anya’s face instantly vanished, replaced by deep worry.
“Boss, are you abandoning me?”
“Don’t talk nonsense.” Bai Fu glared at her.
“Hehe.” Anya immediately grinned again. “I knew Boss wouldn’t abandon me. But what do you mean by leaving the Origin Star?”
Bai Fu rolled her eyes.
You really know how to act.
But seeing Anya act so well, she was reassured—this was the quality a competent Garden of Silence administrator should have.
If your heart wasn’t ruthless enough, you couldn’t squeeze enough benefits from the players. If you couldn’t act well enough, you couldn’t make the players feel like they were getting a good deal while still getting exploited.
Bai Fu said, “Someday, I’ll definitely leave the Origin Star. But since I don’t know the specifics yet, I’m not sure whether I can take you with me. If not, then you’ll have to stay here a while longer until I gain a foothold in the interstellar realms.”
Anya didn’t fully understand, but she didn’t dwell on it either. She only knew that Bai Fu was her sky, and believing in the sky was the right thing to do.
……
In the last few days before the 1.2 version update, Bai Fu spent most of her time grinding for Memory Fragments and crafting Prayer Cards. The rest of her time was spent patrolling several construction sites.
Most players didn’t actually understand how to build houses, but after all, it was just a game. As long as they followed the game prompts and filled the progress bar, the quest was considered complete.
During this wave of infrastructure quests, a few players unexpectedly went viral in the Community—such as Convert to My Fu.
These players had real-life jobs related to the construction industry. Upon hearing that the Garden of Silence was renovating and rebuilding five strongholds, they volunteered to help draw blueprints and coordinate player efforts to complete the construction tasks.
Old Nissen immediately agreed when he heard about this.
And indeed, thanks to the game’s ultra-realistic mechanics, the expertise these players had could be perfectly applied to in-game building.
【Damn, Civil Engineering Saints!】
【Bro, you guys are freaking amazing!】
The wave of praise in the Community put Convert to My Fu and the others in the spotlight, which also motivated other players doing grunt work to work even harder. They wanted to see if they could actually turn those blueprints into real structures.
Some savvy players spotted a new trend and started “construction livestreams.”
【Family, today we smash walls with the big hammer, let’s gooo】
【Building my own capital city by hand, this level of engagement is off the charts】
【Haha, I carved my name into the bricks】
【Digging-Treasure, it’s time to update the next Garden of Silence News Express】
【Daily question—has anyone bucketed and fled?】
Amid laughter and joy, this group of players spent just a few days laying foundations for all major buildings in the five strongholds and even erected fences around them. Their efficiency stunned both Gao Yuan and Old Nissen. They could only use one word to describe the players—
6!
Undying Ones—if they weren’t dead yet, they’d just work themselves to death!
Bai Fu looked at the dramatically transformed Shelter Number 11 with satisfaction: “Once the strongholds are fully built, I’ll place a statue of myself right in the center of the plaza and make this the landmark of the Goli Desert—or even the entire Origin Star!”
Although Bai Fu hadn’t gone out to stir up trouble lately, and neither had the players who joined the Garden of Silence, the happenings in the Goli Desert still caught the attention of the surrounding major forces.
They had no idea what Bai Fu was up to. It was precisely because they couldn’t understand that they became even more cautious.
“Building a city in the desert… what’s that woman’s goal?”
“Is she really the Sovereign of the Shadowed Night like those Undying Ones claim?”
“We have no way of explaining why her charm is so high that it can make the Undying Ones willingly serve her. We can only half believe it.”
“Sovereign of the Shadowed Night? That title is way too edgy.”
Eyes continued to fixate on the Goli Desert. Most of them acted with restraint—even if they believed Bai Fu posed a huge threat, they didn’t dare act recklessly, fearing that one mistake might bring down a storm of retaliation.
And so, time passed slowly until the day of the update announced by the official developers finally arrived.
At the stroke of midnight, the game servers shut down right on time, forcibly logging all players off. As she looked at the now-empty streets, Bai Fu felt her heart rise slightly.
Would there be new buffs this time?
After more than ten seconds, the long-awaited chime sounded in her ears.
【Confirming Plot Participation (0%……10%……)】
【Current Plot Exploration on Origin Star: 2.7%】
【Correcting Character Role (0%……3%……)】
【Character Role corrected from [Key Hidden Plot Participant] to [Origin Star’s Singular Main Storyline Protagonist]】
【Correcting Character Profile (0%……2%……)】
Protagonist?!
When Bai Fu saw that line in the game notification, she nearly jumped up.
After all her subtle hints and efforts to guide player opinion, she had finally been officially recognized as the protagonist of Origin Star. Even though she wasn’t the only protagonist, this was still a massive leap.
Bai Fu couldn’t wait to click through to the other notifications to see what kind of buffs the developers had given her this time.